• the purpose of the lists is to make it easier to learn and remember the words used in the stories and other readings.

• they can be used directly for study or review, or as the basis for vocabulary-learning activities and exercises

• I have classified the words according to their importance (as it seems to me) The words in 'Level One' are the most important. The words in Level Four are the least important.

• In deciding on a word's importance, I've considered both how often a word is used ('frequency') and how useful it may be in some situations. Some words — 'pregnant' for example — are occasionally very useful even though they are not very frequently used .

• When a word is not used in the most common way — or when it is not used 'literally' — it is sometimes followed by another word in square brackets. The word in brackets is simply a reminder of the particular meaning the word has in the text. (For example, 'bar [drink]' is a reminder that, as it is used in the text 'bar' means 'a place to drink.')

• In some cases the 'word class' (or 'part of speech') of a word is mentioned as a reminder of how the word is used in the text. ('n' = noun; 'v' = verb, etc) (For example: 'mind (n)')

• When a word in the text is not the most common member of a word family, sometimes the basic member of the family is also given in parentheses. (For example: 'governmental, (government).'

• If a word is slang, then this is indicated (For example, 'pokie {slang}'.)

• Words on the Academic Word List have been underlined

• Single-word items are on 'Vocabulary Page 1'.

• Multi-word items are on 'Vocabulary Page 2.' They are classified according to 'grammatical' categories. These categories are explained in the 'Grammar Glossary.'